Taking serious exception to the inclusion of Forest Minister Anand Singh and Social Welfare Minister B. Sriramulu in the four-member ministerial committee to implement the Comprehensive Environmental Plan for Mining Impact Zone (CEPMIZ), anti-corruption activist and president of Samaj Parivartana Samudaya S.R. Hiremath has demanded that the government to drop them from the committee.
“The Supreme Court has set aside more than ₹15,000 crore for the rehabilitation of mining-affected persons and the restoration of the environment ravaged by mining in Ballari, Chitradurga, and Tumakuru districts. The State government has formed a four-member Cabinet sub-committee to implement the CEPMIZ and has included Anand Singh and B. Sriramulu, who were strongly indicted by Justice [Santosh] Hegde’s final report [on illegal mining] dated July 27, 2011. They must be excluded from the Cabinet sub-committee and legal action should be initiated against the Ministers for their role in illegal mining,” he said at a press conference in Ballari recently. He also demanded the use of the amount only for the restoration of life and environment affected by mining, and not for anything else.
‘Modify agreement’
Terming the agreement signed between NMDC Donimalai, a Union government undertaking, and the Karnataka government an injustice to the State, Mr. Hiremath urged the State government to change the legal permit for NMDC to ensure that 80% of the premium is paid to the State government, instead of the present 22.5%. “The State government should modify the agreement and mining permit so as not to surrender its legitimate rights to the Union government. NMDC is dodging its responsibility with regard to R&R (resettlement and rehabilitation) at its mines. The State government should make sure that it undertakes R&R without further delay,” he said.
Declaring full support to the farmers’ agitation in Delhi opposing the recently enacted farm legislation, Mr. Hiremath said Janaandolanagala Maha Maitri, a grand alliance of people’s movement of which he is part of, would actively participate in the Bharat Bandh scheduled for Tuesday. “We fully support the firm stand taken by the farmers protesting at the Delhi border against the anti-farmer laws. The government should respect the sentiments and rights of the farmers and repeal all three anti-farmer laws immediately. It should also initiate steps to give legal backing to the Minimum Support Price regime,” he said.
